MIAMI (Reuters)
- Hurricane Alberto strengthened in the open Atlantic on Monday,
far away from any land, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane
Center said.
At 5 p.m.
EDT, the hurricane was centered about 1,240 miles east of the
Leeward Islands of the eastern Caribbean, near latitude 16.6 north
and longitude 42.8 west.
The storm
was moving westward at about 14 mph. Forecasters said it was expected
to continue on a generally west-northwest path through Tuesday,
a course that would keep it well away from land.
Alberto had
``just the faintest hint of an eye,'' Jack Beven, a hurricane
specialist at the hurricane center, said. Its top sustained winds
were 90 mph, up from 80 mph on Sunday. Little change in strength
was expected through Tuesday, Beven said.
The storm,
which formed on Friday and grew to hurricane strength on Saturday,
was the first of the June-through-November Atlantic hurricane
season.
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